Barbershop quartets set to offer ‘ValenGrams’ again in Stanislaus, Merced counties

Have a song in your heart but not the pipes or the nerve to sing it to your sweetie? Leave it to the pros.

The Golden Valley Chorus will offer its annual barbershop quartet “ValenGrams” on Friday through Sunday in Stanislaus and Merced counties. For $40 ($45 if using a credit card), quartets will sing “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” or “Heart of My Heart” – both traditional Valentine’s Day songs. Each recipient also will receive a silk rose and have his or her photo taken with the quartet.

The singing valentines will be offered from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. “We had approximately 40 last year, here and in Merced, and this year it’s much lighter right now, probably because of the three-day weekend and Valentine’s Day coming on Sunday,” said Golden Valley Chorus President Roe Darnell on Tuesday.

ValenGram orders will be taken through Thursday afternoon. “We like to have everything locked in by then so we can put together a route for our singers,” Darnell said. Quartets typically identify a 30-minute window during which they will arrive, but if an exact time is needed, they usually can accommodate.

One ValenGram the group is especially looking forward to delivering is to a Modesto woman celebrating her 100th birthday Saturday. Her family has arranged for a quartet to surprise her with a song.

The ValenGrams aren’t just for the ladies, the chorus points out. They’ve sung to plenty of guys, including one doing mechanical work under the hood of a VW Beetle, a bartender and a Stanislaus County undersheriff who was at a jail facility. Because he wasn’t available to sing to directly, the ValenGram was heard on the speaker system throughout the jail.

Last year’s ValenGram highlight was recounted by Merced resident Howard Barber of Golden Valley Chorus’ Four Tune Hunters quartet during an interview with radio station News/Talk 1480 KYOS. “I have a granddaughter who loves barbershop, she loves the singing,” Barber said, “and she said, ‘Grandpa, could you possibly do a valentine and I could video you and send it to my boyfriend?’ who’s in Oman near Saudi Arabia, where he’s a missionary.”

The group met with her, sang the song and she sent the video to him. “Within two weeks,” Barber told the station, “he made a special trip all the way back to the U.S. and presented her with an engagement ring. And I, naturally, take complete credit for that.”

Golden Valley Chorus has about 35 members on its books, about 25 of them active. The money raised through ValenGrams goes to provide scholarships for Youth Harmony Camp each September in Pollock Pines. About 80 to 90 Valley students, many from Merced High and Modesto High, attend.

Chorus members meet every Tuesday night at Mancini Hall, 718 Tuolumne Blvd. in Modesto. Anyone interested in joining can stop by, email bruce@gvc.org or go to www.gvc.org, to learn more.

Anyone who wants to arrange a singing valentine in Stanislaus County should call 209-551-2314. For Merced County, call 209-383-3808.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 10:38 AM with the headline "Barbershop quartets set to offer ‘ValenGrams’ again in Stanislaus, Merced counties."